DAVID KUBINEC'S MAINHORSE AIRLINE: THE GENEVA TAPES

Before Patrick Moraz released the Mainhorse LP in 1971, he and bassist/cellist Jean Ristori founded one of the most significant groups in prog rock history. In the summer of 1969, the two left Switzerland for England in an effort to form a new band. They found it in drummer Bryson Graham and singer/songwriter David Kubinec (World of Oz). Initially calling themselves Integral Aim - then Mainhorse Airline - and supporting acts as Free, Canned Heat and Humble Pie, the band did early symphonic psych-rock with better musicianship than the Nice, less freaked-out space explorations than Egg, and did it a full year before anyone had ever heard of ELP. Moraz's vibrant organ and Ristori's classical foundation led the way and came together with Kubinec's songwriting talents beautifully for these ten tracks recorded in a Swiss basement studio. Kubinec would later suffer a heart attack and the original line-up dissolved, and Patrick Moraz would go on to work with other prog greats, some of the key music from this period making it on to 1971's 'Mainhorse'. But these early sessions give a taste of the group's true potential and exposes a shadowed corner of the progressive underground to the light of day, giving fans a priceless missing link in prog's evolution. Opener 'Overture and Beginners' is an explosion of late 60s energy tempered by musical discipline, powerhouse rhythms and wild organ runs. 'Blunt Needles', a startling look at drug culture, clips with jazzy street life and a ghostly church organ. Drowsy Beatles impression 'The Passing Years', funny jazz-pop of 'Make it the Way You Are', very prog 'Pale Sky' at 7 minutes complete with Eastern-style acoustic interlude, savage psych bit 'Directions for Use' and pastoral 'A Very Small Child'. 11-minute 'God Can Fix Anything' is enormous, almost Who-like, and ends things convincingly.

Bursting with fresh ideas and technical virtuosity rarely seen in its time, 'The Geneva Tapes' is a revelation, finally giving these guys their due and answering the question of what this band sounded like in its earliest incarnation. Mandatory for anyone with a taste for prog in its youth, a great record and a great piece of history.

Swiss Psych/Prog band Mainhorse were formed in 1969 in London,where keyboardist Patrick Moraz and bassist Jean Ristori were in search of band members and found drummer Bryson Graham along with singer David Kubinec of The World of Oz fame through an ad.For financial reasons the quartet flew back to Switzerland,adding drummer Arnold Ott and guitarist Augusto De Antoni in the mix.Three months later Ott got married and quit,Mainhorse Airline continued as a quintet,starting to record their first compositions.Some of these early recordings,most of them being ideas of Kubinec and Moraz,were collected and released in 2007 by ORK Records,as a document of the band's early formation.

This very early sound of the band contains strong 60's psychedelic vibes along with organ- smashed passages with some Classical references and THE NICE are really the greatest comparison here.The overall style is very raw,rather dated and typical of the late-60's Psych/Proto-Progressive style.Here soft psychedelic passages with some doomy drumming and bass are blended with Moraz'es dominant organ parts,with guitarust De Antoni having a distinctive jazzy edge on his playing.A few compositions have an evident rehearsal atmosphere,being more free-structured and improvised in nature. However there are plenty of virtuosic passages in a typical progressive style along the way with Moraz even performing on electric piano on some tracks, which soung a bit jazzy.The majority though of the album still is grounded in a Classical enviroment with the last composition ''God Can Fix Anything'' being an absolute compositional highlight and a nice example of what this band was capable of.

This early formation of the band did not last long.Kubinec found himself with a heart attack in hospital due to the heavy schedule of the band,soon to move back in the UK, and De Antoni also quit dissapointed by this rough situation.Kubinec relocated in former Yugoslavia in late-70's joining the band Stijene.The rest of the band continued as Mainhorse,while some of the tracks presented here made it to the official debut of the band in 1971.

''The Geneva Tapes'' is a good documentary not only of Mainhorse's first months as an act but also a nice example of the farewell psychedelic scene and the upcoming progressive heydays,being quite similar to bands in the vein of THE NICE, ELP, or BEGGARS OPERA.These particular recordings sound a bit dated but the overall performance of the band hides some decent music secrets to make this album recommended.